Refrigerator

ABSTRACT

A refrigerator including a shaved ice dispensing unit, and an ice cube dispensing unit positioned within an ice cube container such that ice cubes, crushed ice, and shaved ice are selectively dispensed to a user. The shaved ice dispensing unit includes a driving motor, a guide barrel having a shaved ice outlet, a plurality of blades disposed at the outlet, a rotational shaft disposed axially within the guide barrel and connected with the driving motor, a compressing wing connected with the rotational shaft above the outlet and extending in a radial direction, and a spiral wing coupled with the rotational shaft at the front of the compressing wing. When the driving motor is driven, the rotational shaft, the spiral wing, and the compressing wing rotate and compress the ice cubes in the ice cube container to produce the shaved ice. The ice cube dispensing unit comprises an ice cube crusher, and an outlet adjusting device to allow the ice cubes to be dispensed or to dispense the crushed ice after producing the crushed ice through the ice cube crusher.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No.2004-78099, filed on Sep. 30, 2004 and Korean Patent Application No.2005-76774, filed on Aug. 22, 2005 in the Korean Intellectual PropertyOffice, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and, more particularly,to a refrigerator, which includes a shaved ice dispensing unit, and anice cube dispensing unit positioned within an ice cube container suchthat ice cubes, crushed ice, and shaved ice are selectively dispensed toa user.

2. Description of the Related Art

Generally, a refrigerator includes a freezing compartment, and arefrigerating compartment, which are partitioned from each other tostore various foods at a low temperature in an appropriate state for along time. The refrigerating compartment includes various refrigeratedfoods, such as vegetables and fruits, which require storage abovefreezing, and the freezing compartment includes various frozen foods,such as pork, beef, and fish, which require storage below freezing.

The freezing compartment includes an automatic icemaker to produce icecubes of a predetermined size or more using cold air circulating withinthe freezing compartment. The automatic icemaker includes an ice tray toautomatically freeze water into the ice cubes, and an ice cube containerdisposed below the ice tray to contain the ice cubes produced in the icetray. The automatic icemaker is configured such that, after water isautomatically fed into the ice tray and formed into the ice cubes, theice cubes are automatically conveyed to and contained within the icecube container, and such that, in the event of a deficiency of the icecubes within the ice cube container, the above mentioned automaticprocess of producing the ice cubes is repeated by supplying water intothe ice tray.

However, since the conventional refrigerator is not provided with ashaved ice dispensing unit to dispense shaved ice after making the icecubes produced by the automatic icemaker into the shaved ice, it is veryinconvenient for users of the conventional refrigerator to produce theshaved ice, for example, when making an iced beverage using the shavedice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide arefrigerator, which includes a shaved ice dispensing unit, and an icecube dispensing unit positioned within an ice cube container such thatthe shaved ice, the ice cubes, and the crushed ice are selectivelydispensed to a user.

Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forthin part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparentfrom the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention are achievedby providing a refrigerator, comprising: a freezing compartment; afreezing compartment door to open and close the freezing compartment; anicemaker equipped to the freezing compartment to produce ice cubes; anice cube container including first and second ends to contain the icecubes; a shaved ice dispensing unit positioned within the ice cubecontainer; an ice cube dispensing unit positioned in parallel to theshaved ice dispensing unit within the ice cube container; and adispensing passage to guide the shaved ice and the ice cubesrespectively produced from the shaved ice dispensing unit and the icecube dispensing unit to an outside of the freezing compartment door.

The shaved ice dispensing unit includes at least one compressing wingrotatably disposed on the second end of the ice cube container, and atleast one blade fixedly disposed on the second end of the ice cubecontainer to crush the ice cubes contained within the ice cube containerinto crushed ice.

The shaved ice dispensing unit further includes a driving motor disposedon the first end of the ice cube container, a guide barrel disposed onthe second end of the ice cube container, a rotational shaft disposedaxially within the guide barrel to be rotated by the driving motor, anda shaved ice outlet provided at a lower portion of the guide barrel, thecompressing wing being connected with the rotational shaft whileradially extending towards an inner peripheral surface of the guidebarrel, and the blade being fixed at the shaved ice outlet of the guidebarrel.

The shaved ice dispensing unit further includes a spiral guide connectedbetween the driving motor and the rotational shaft to guide the icecubes contained within the ice cube container to the guide barrel.

The compressing wing is of an arc-shape curved towards the blade in arotational direction of the rotational shaft.

The shaved ice dispensing unit further includes at least one spiral wingrotatably connected with the rotational shaft at the front of thecompressing wing within the guide barrel to push the ice cubes towardsthe compressing wing.

The shaved ice dispensing unit further includes a case surrounding theguide barrel and having an opening formed at a lower portion of the caseto guide the shaved ice discharged from the crushed ice outlet below thecase.

The ice cube dispensing unit includes an ice cube crusher to selectivelycrush the ice cubes contained within the ice cube container into crushedice.

The ice cube dispensing unit further includes an ice cube/crushed iceoutlet provided on the second end of the ice cube container, and the icecube crusher includes a rotational cutter and a stationary cutterpositioned corresponding to the ice cube/crushed ice outlet to crush theice cubes, having been conveyed to the ice cube/crushed ice outlet, intothe crushed ice.

The ice dispensing unit further includes an outlet adjusting device toadjust a size of the ice cube/crushed ice outlet according to whetherthe ice cube crusher is operated or not.

The dispensing passage includes a shaved ice discharge port formed at alocation corresponding to the shaved ice dispensing unit, and an icecube/crushed ice discharge port formed at a location corresponding tothe ice cube dispensing unit in the freezing compartment door.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent and more readily appreciated from the following description ofthe embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, ofwhich:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of arefrigerator in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 1,illustrating a schematic inner construction of the refrigerator;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a shaved ice dispensing unitand an ice cube dispensing unit positioned within an ice cube container;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 3,illustrating the construction of the shaved ice dispensing unit;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line V-V of FIG. 3,illustrating the shaved ice dispensing unit in the process of producingshaved ice; and

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG. 2,illustrating the state in which the shaved ice, the ice cubes andcrushed ice are dispensed from the ice cube container to the outside ofthe freezing compartment door.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the presentinvention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements.The embodiments are described below to explain the present invention byreferring to the figures.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of arefrigerator according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is across-sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 1, which illustratesa schematic inner construction of the refrigerator.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the refrigerator comprises a body 1 opened ata front side thereof and defining an appearance of the refrigerator. Thebody 1 comprises an inner space partitioned into a freezing compartment4 and a refrigerating compartment (not shown), which are opened andclosed by a freezing compartment door 2 and a refrigerating compartmentdoor 3 hingably coupled to the front side of the body 1, respectively.

The refrigerator comprises an evaporator 5 on a rear wall of the body 1to generate cold air, and a compressor 6 at a rear of a lower portion ofthe body 1 to compress refrigerant, and an automatic icemaker 10 at anupper portion of the freezing compartment 4 to automatically produce andsupply ice cubes of a predetermined size.

The automatic icemaker 10 comprises an ice tray 11 to freeze water intothe ice cubes after receiving the water, an ice cube container 20disposed below the ice tray 11 to contain the ice cubes formed in theice tray 11, and a water feeding pipe 12 connected with an outside waterreservoir and extending above the ice tray 11 to feed the water into theice tray 11.

The ice cube container 20 comprises a shaved ice dispensing unit 30 toproduce the ice cubes contained in the ice cube 20 container into shavedice, and an ice cube dispensing unit 50 to dispense the ice cubes in theice cube container 20 or to dispense crushed ice after crushing the icecubes in the ice cube container 20 into crushed ice (see FIG. 3).

The freezing compartment door 2 comprises a dispensing passage 17through which the shaved ice dispensed from the shaved ice dispensingunit 30 or the ice cubes and the crushed ice selectively dispensed fromthe ice cube dispensing unit 50 are discharged to the outside of thefreezing compartment door 2. The dispensing passage 17 comprises ashaved ice discharge port 13, and an ice cube/crushed ice discharge port14 formed through the freezing compartment door 2 (see FIG. 6).

The freezing compartment door 2 further comprises a shaved ice dischargelever 15, and an ice cube/crushed ice discharge lever 16 below theshaved ice discharge port 13 and the ice cube/crushed ice discharge port14, respectively. A control unit 8 is provided above the shaved icedischarge lever 15 and the ice cube/crushed ice discharge lever 16 on anouter surface of the freezing compartment 2. The control unit 8comprises a shaved ice selection button, an ice cube selection button,and a crushed ice selection button.

The controller 8 controls the automatic icemaker 10 to automaticallyproduce the ice cubes, and when one of the shaved ice selection button,the ice cube selection button, and the crushed ice selection button ispushed, the controller 8 controls one of the shaved ice dispensing unit30 and the ice cube dispensing unit 50 to be selectively operated todispense the shaved ice, the ice cubes or the crushed ice according toselection of a user.

Thus, after a predetermined time has elapsed since the ice tray 11 wasfilled with water through the water feeding pipe 12, the water withinthe ice tray 11 is frozen to ice cubes by virtue of cold air circulatingin the freezing compartment 4. Then, the ice cubes are automaticallyconveyed to, and fill the ice cube container 20. These processes arecontrolled by the control unit 8.

In this state, when the shaved ice selection button of the control unit8, and the shaved ice discharge lever 15 are pushed, the control unit 8controls the shaved ice dispensing unit 30 to produce the shaved ice.The shaved ice is dispensed to an outside of the freezing compartmentdoor 2 through the shaved ice discharge port 13 of the dispensingpassage 17, and fills a cup 7.

In the same manner, when the ice cube selection button of the controlunit 8, and the ice cube/crushed ice discharge lever 16 are pushed, thecontrol unit 8 controls the ice cube dispensing unit 50 to produce anddispense the ice cubes to an outside of the freezing compartment door 2through the ice cube/crushed ice discharge port 14 of the dispensingpassage 17. As a matter of course, when the crushed ice selection buttonof the control unit 8, and the ice cube/crushed ice discharge lever 16are pushed, the control unit 8 controls the ice cube dispensing unit 50to produce the crushed ice. The crushed ice is dispensed to the outsideof the freezing compartment door 2 through the ice cube/crushed icedischarge port 14 of the dispensing passage 17.

The construction and operation of the shaved ice dispensing unit 30, andthe ice cube dispensing unit 50 will be described with reference toFIGS. 3 to 6.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the shaved ice dispensing unitand the ice cube dispensing unit positioned within the ice cubecontainer, FIG. 4 shows the construction of the shaved ice dispensingunit, and FIG. 5 shows the process of producing the shaved ice by theshaved ice dispensing unit. FIG. 6 shows the state in which the shavedice, the ice cubes and crushed ice are dispensed from the ice cubecontainer to the outside of the freezing compartment door.

Referring to FIG. 3, the shaved ice dispensing unit 30 and the ice cubedispensing unit 50 are positioned in parallel within the ice cubecontainer 20. More specifically, the shaved ice dispensing unit 30 andthe ice cube dispensing unit 50 are longitudinally positioned inparallel within the ice cube container 20 between a first end 21 of theice cube container 20 located near a rear wall of the freezingcompartment 4 and a second end 22 of the ice cube container 20 above theshaved ice discharge port 13 and ice cube/crushed ice discharge port 14formed in the freezing compartment door 2.

In order to allow the ice cubes contained in the ice cube container 20to be smoothly conveyed to the shaved ice dispensing unit 30 and the icecube dispensing unit 50, respectively, a partition plate 23 of apredetermined height is disposed between the shaved ice dispensing unit30 and the ice cube dispensing unit 50.

The shaved ice dispensing unit 30 comprises a driving motor 31 equippedon the first end 21 of the ice cube container 20, and a spiral guide 32having one end coupled with the driving motor 31 and the other endextending towards the second end 22 of the ice cube container 20 whiledefining a space to guide the ice cubes.

The shaved ice dispensing unit 30 further comprises a guide barrel 34disposed on the second end 22 of the ice cube container 20, a rotationalshaft 33 connected with the other end of the spiral guide 32 whileaxially extending through the guide barrel 34, a plurality ofcompressing wings 36 radially extending from the rotational shaft 33while being positioned adjacent an inner peripheral surface of the guidebarrel 34, a plurality of shaved ice outlets 40 formed through the lowerend of the guide barrel 34 (see FIG. 5), and a plurality of blades 39respectively fixed to the shaved ice outlets 40 in the guide barrel 34.

The shaved ice dispensing unit 30 further comprises a case 37, whichsurrounds the guide barrel 34 at the outside of the second end 22 of theice cube container 20 and has an opening 38 (see FIG. 5) formed throughthe case 37 below the guide barrel 34 to guide the crushed ice, havingbeen discharged from the crushed ice outlet 40 of the guide barrel 34,to the shaved ice discharge port 13 formed in the freezing compartmentdoor 2, and at least one spiral wing 35 connected with the rotationalshaft 33 at the front of the compressing wings 36 while being surroundedby the guide barrel 34 to move the ice cubes, having been conveyed tothe guide barrel 34 by the spiral guide 32, towards the compressingwings 36.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the rotational shaft 33 is axially disposedwithin the guide barrel 34. The spiral wing 35, and the compressingwings 36 spaced a predetermined distance from the spiral wing whileextending radially are equipped to the rotational shaft 33. Theplurality of shaved ice outlets 40 is formed in a lower portion of theguide barrel 34 (see FIG. 5) so as to correspond to the compressingwings 36, and has a length corresponding to the width of the compressingwings 36. The plurality of blades 39 is disposed in the longitudinaldirection at the shaved ice outlets 40.

Each of the compressing wings 36 is of a substantially arc shape, andone end of the compressing wing 36 is slightly separated from the innerperipheral surface of the guide barrel 34 such that the compressingwings 36 can rotate within the guide barrel 34. Each of the compressingwings 36 is curved towards the blade 39 in the rotational direction ofthe rotational shaft 33 such that the compressing wings 36 force the icecubes to be brought into intimate contact with the blades 39, andproduce the shaved ice together with the blades 39.

Accordingly, when the shaved ice selection button of the control unit 8and the shaved ice discharge lever 15 equipped to an outside of thefreezing compartment door 2 are pushed, the spiral guide 32 and therotational shaft 33 are rotated by the driving motor 31 to rotate thespiral wing 35 and the compressing wings 36 within the guide barrel 34.As a result, the ice cubes are conveyed into the guide barrel 34 bymeans of the spiral guide 32, and then are conveyed to the compressingwings 36 by means of the spiral wing 35 within the guide barrel 34.

The ice cubes conveyed to the compressing wings 36 are shaved bycooperation of the compressing wings 36 and the blades 39 into theshaved ice, which is then dropped along the shaved ice outlets 40 of theguide barrel 34 and the opening 38 of the case 37.

The shaved ice produced by the shaved ice dispensing unit 30 is droppedto the shaved ice discharge port 13 of the dispensing passage 17 formedbelow the opening 38 through the freezing compartment door 2, as shownin FIG. 6, and is then discharged to the outside of the freezingcompartment door 2.

As shown in FIG. 3, the ice cube dispensing unit 50 positioned togetherwith the shaved ice dispensing unit 30 in the ice cube container 20comprises a driving motor 51 equipped in parallel to the driving motor31 of the shaved ice dispensing unit 30 on the first end 21 of the icecube container 20, and a spiral guide 52 having one end coupled with thedriving motor 51 and the other end extending to the second end 22 of theice cube container 20 while defining a space for guiding the ice cubes.

The ice cube dispensing unit 50 further comprises a case 58 disposed atthe outside of the second end 22 of the ice cube container 20 and havingan ice cube/crushed ice outlet 59 formed therethrough, a rotationalshaft 53 connected with the other end of the spiral guide 52 whileextending towards the case 58, at least one spiral wing 55 coupled tothe rotational shaft 53, and a guide barrel 54 surrounding an outerperipheral surface of the spiral wing 55 to guide the conveyance of theice cubes.

The ice cube dispensing unit 50 further comprises an ice cube crusher 70equipped to the second end 22 of the ice cube container 20 to dispensecrushed ice together with the ice cubes. The ice cube crusher 70comprises a pair of rotational cutters 56 coupled with the rotationalshaft 53 at a location corresponding to the ice cube/crushed ice outlet59, and a stationary cutter 69 fixed at the ice cube/crushed ice outlet59 to be perpendicular to the rotational cutters 56, in order to crushthe ice cubes, having been conveyed to the ice cube/crushed ice outlet59 by the spiral wings 55, into the crushed ice.

The ice cube dispensing unit 50 further comprises an outlet adjustingdevice 60, which can adjust the size of the ice cube/crushed ice outlet59 such that the ice cubes and the crushed ice can be selectivelydispensed from the ice cube dispensing unit 50.

Accordingly, after adjusting the size of the ice cube/crushed ice outlet59 to prevent the ice cubes from escaping through the outlet 59 by useof the outlet adjusting device 60 through the control unit 8, thedriving motor 61 is driven to rotate the spiral guide 52, the rotationalshaft 53, and the spiral wings 55 coupled with the rotational shaft 53.Thereby, the ice cubes contained in the ice cube container 20 are pushedinto the guide barrel 54, in which the ice cubes are conveyed to the icecube/crushed ice outlet 59 of the case 58 by the spiral wings 55. As aresult, the ice cubes are crushed into crushed ice of a sizecorresponding to the adjusted size of the ice cube/crushed ice outlet 59through operation of the rotational cutters 56 and the stationary cutter57. The crushed ice is discharged to the outside of the freezingcompartment door 2 through ice cube/crushed ice discharge port 14 of thedispensing passage 17 formed in the freezing compartment door 2.

On the contrary, when the driving motor 61 is driven with the size ofthe ice cube/crushed ice outlet 59 adjusted to allow the ice cubes topass through the outlet 59 by use of the outlet adjusting device 60through the control unit 8, the ice cubes are conveyed to the icecube/crushed ice outlet 59 by the spiral wings 55, and pass through theoutlet 59 without being crushed by the rotational cutters 56 and thestationary cutter 57. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the ice cubes aredischarged to the outside of the freezing compartment door 2 through icecube/crushed ice discharge port 14.

As is apparent from the above description, the refrigerator according toan embodiment of the invention includes the shaved ice dispensing unit,and the ice cube dispensing unit positioned within the ice cubecontainer to allow ice cubes, crushed ice, and shaved ice to be smoothlydispensed to the outside of the freezing compartment door according toselection of a user, so that the user of the refrigerator is providedwith various shapes of ice.

Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown anddescribed, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art thatvarious modifications, additions and substitutions may be made in theseembodiments without departing from the principle and spirit of theinvention, the scope of which defined in the claims and theirequivalents.

1. A refrigerator, comprising: a freezing compartment; a freezingcompartment door to open and close the freezing compartment; an icemakerequipped to the freezing compartment to produce ice cubes; an ice cubecontainer including first and second ends to contain the ice cubes; ashaved ice dispensing unit positioned within the ice cube container; anice cube dispensing unit positioned in parallel to the shaved icedispensing unit within the ice cube container; and a dispensing passageto guide the shaved ice and the ice cubes respectively produced from theshaved ice dispensing unit and the ice cube dispensing unit to anoutside of the freezing compartment door.
 2. The refrigerator accordingto claim 1, wherein the shaved ice dispensing unit comprises at leastone compressing wing rotatably disposed on the second end of the icecube container, and at least one blade fixedly disposed on the secondend of the ice cube container to crush the ice cubes contained withinthe ice cube container into crushed ice.
 3. The refrigerator accordingto claim 2, wherein the shaved ice dispensing unit further comprises adriving motor disposed on the first end of the ice cube container, aguide barrel disposed on the second end of the ice cube container, arotational shaft disposed axially within the guide barrel to be rotatedby the driving motor, and a shaved ice outlet provided at a lowerportion of the guide barrel, the compressing wing being connected withthe rotational shaft while radially extending towards an innerperipheral surface of the guide barrel, and the blade being fixed to theshaved ice outlet of the guide barrel.
 4. The refrigerator according toclaim 3, wherein the shaved ice dispensing unit further comprises aspiral guide connected between the driving motor and the rotationalshaft to guide the ice cubes contained within the ice cube container tothe guide barrel.
 5. The refrigerator according to claim 3, wherein thecompressing wing is of an arc-shape curved towards the blade in arotational direction of the rotational shaft.
 6. The refrigeratoraccording to claim 3, wherein the shaved ice dispensing unit furthercomprises at least one spiral wing rotatably connected with therotational shaft at the front of the compressing wing within the guidebarrel to push the ice cubes towards the compressing wing.
 7. Therefrigerator according to claim 3, wherein the shaved ice dispensingunit further comprises a case surrounding the guide barrel and having anopening formed at a lower portion of the case to guide the shaved icedischarged from the crushed ice outlet below the case.
 8. Therefrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the ice cube dispensing unitcomprises an ice cube crusher to selectively crush the ice cubescontained within the ice cube container into crushed ice.
 9. Therefrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the ice cube dispensing unitfurther comprises an ice cube/crushed ice outlet provided on the secondend of the ice cube container, and the ice cube crusher comprises arotational cutter and a stationary cutter positioned corresponding tothe ice cube/crushed ice outlet to crush the ice cubes, having beenconveyed to the ice cube/crushed ice outlet, into the crushed ice. 10.The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the ice dispensing unitfurther comprises an outlet adjusting device to adjust a size of the icecube/crushed ice outlet according to whether the ice cube crusher isoperated or not.
 11. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein thedispensing passage comprises a shaved ice discharge port formed at alocation corresponding to the shaved ice dispensing unit, and an icecube/crushed ice discharge port formed at a location corresponding tothe ice cube dispensing unit in the freezing compartment door.
 12. Arefrigerator, comprising: a freezing compartment; an ice cube containerequipped within the freezing compartment to contain ice cubes; a shavedice dispensing unit positioned within the ice cube container to dispenseshaved ice after shaving the ice cubes contained in the ice cube intothe shaved ice; and an ice cube dispensing unit positioned in parallelto the shaved ice dispensing unit within the ice cube container to allowthe ice cubes contained in the ice cube container to be discharged or todischarge crushed ice after crushing the ice cubes contained in the icecube.
 13. The refrigerator according to claim 12, wherein the ice cubecontainer comprises a partition plate between the shaved ice dispensingunit and the ice cube dispensing unit to allow the ice cubes containedin the ice cube container to be smoothly conveyed into the shaved icedispensing unit and the ice cube dispensing unit.
 14. The refrigeratoraccording to claim 12, wherein the shaved ice dispensing unit comprisesa driving motor disposed on a first end of the ice cube container, aguide barrel disposed on a second end facing the first end of the icecube container and having a crushed ice outlet formed through the guidebarrel, at least one blade equipped to the crushed ice outlet, arotational shaft axially disposed within the guide barrel and rotated bythe driving motor, and at least one compressing wing connected with therotational shaft and radially extending towards an inner peripheralsurface of the guide barrel to compress the ice cubes conveyed to theguide barrel against the blade to produce the crushed ice.
 15. Therefrigerator according to claim 14, wherein the shaved ice dispensingunit further comprises a spiral guide connected between the drivingmotor and the rotational shaft to guide the ice cubes contained withinthe ice cube container to the guide barrel.
 16. The refrigeratoraccording to claim 14, wherein the shaved ice dispensing unit furthercomprises at least one spiral wing rotatably connected with therotational shaft at the front of the compressing wing within the guidebarrel to push the ice cubes to the compressing wing.
 17. Therefrigerator according to claim 12, further comprising: a freezingcompartment door to open and close the freezing compartment, thefreezing compartment door including a shaved ice discharge port formedat a location corresponding to the shaved ice dispensing unit, and anice cube/crushed ice discharge port formed at a location correspondingto the ice cube dispensing unit in the freezing compartment door.